Q: I live in western Walnut Creek near Lunardi’s and I want to meet my wife for dinner in Danville. She works in San Ramon, so she’ll have a car, and so, as a good citizen, I investigate public transit.

Clay Kallam, Walnut Creek

A: Your adventure was just that — an adventure.

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Q: First, I find a trip planner at 511.org. I type in our address and the destination, and the answer is “There is an issue processing your request.”

So I try 511 from the Walnut Creek BART station, and there it is: a 29-stop, 25-minute bus ride. Now, I don’t know much about bus rides, but it seems to me that if there are 29 stops, it’s going to take a little longer than 25 minutes to get there during rush hour, but hey, I could be wrong.

Clay Kallam

A: OK, now your goal is to get to BART.

Q: I try Google maps, since 511 has nothing for me. The best option? Well, it’s the only option — a brisk 2.4-mile, 45-minute walk. Oh, and it’s supposed to rain.

And people wonder why there are so many cars with one driver on the road. Unless I want to walk 45 minutes, and then take a bus ride that’s at least 30 minutes, or pay for Uber (which also puts a car on the road), that’s what’s available.

I could go on a long semi-rant about all this talk about shifting to public transit is just blowing smoke, but it’s pretty obvious to make transit a reasonable option will require an investment of tens of millions, if not hundreds of millions, of dollars. Which means that all the rhetoric from public officials and transit boosters is as empty as those buses you drive by every day.

Clay Kallam

A: More than millions, says John-the-MTC-Guy:

“Mr. Kallam greatly underestimates what it would cost to deliver high-frequency transit service to every Bay Area neighborhood. Getting public transit to be all things to all people would be a multibillion-dollar proposition.

“But Mr. Kallam vividly illustrates a fundamental dilemma. In the case of public transit, is it better to provide some level of service to as many areas as possible or concentrate service in the highest-demand locations? One can make a compelling argument either way, so transit operators often try to strike a balance. In the case of County Connection, it does not operate fixed-route bus service in the neighborhood around Lunardi’s in Walnut Creek, but it does operate its 21-BART Walnut Creek to San Ramon (via Danville) route with 30-minute headways during peak periods.

“Transit typically works most effectively and most efficiently in high-density locations where there is enough demand (i.e. people) to support high-frequency service.”

Gary Richards has covered traffic and transportation in the Bay Area as Mr. Roadshow since 1992. Prior to that he was an assistant sports editor at the paper from 1984-1987. He started his journalism career as a sports editor in Iowa in 1975.